Summit Black Ale | Summit Brewing Company

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T: a lot sweeter than I was expecting. Caramel, toffee, some candy sugar and milk chocolate provide the sweetness while a smokey and coffee ground flavor provides bitterness in the flavor. If you want to search out some hops they mostly provide earthy notes.

M: medium body and moderate to high carbonation.

Overall: this one is pretty complex with extremes of sweetness and bitterness coming together to make a surprisingly well balanced beer.

Single from somewhere, wish I had another now...
Poured into a pint, it's a dark mahogany in the light, glinting brown highlights in a black body. Creamy layer of lighter tan foam that leaves dripping arcs of lace inside the glass. Retention is good.

Piney aroma, light malt sweetness, some yeast, a little bit muted.

Medium bodied and plenty bitter, dark roast, charred black malt and coffee. Some piney hop notes, somewhat resiny, dry feel. It has a moderate level of hoppy bitterness that meshes well with the bitter roast malt flavors. Dark bakers chocolate. Overall a good Black Ale, fairly standard and well put together, but not quite as unique in the hop department as some others. Sublimely Self Righteous and New Glarus Black Top are still my personal favorites.

Always nice to see the Unchained brews at Bliss tastings. Good man, Scott. This stuff pours a dark garnet-brown topped by a finger of dusty dark tan foam. The nose comprises light roasted malts, light dark chocolate, light orange zest, and a touch of vague tropical fruit (can't quite tell which one just yet...). The taste alters the program slightly: the roast and chocolate are kept static, but the hops shift from fruity to pine-y, with some decent resin and light leek notes really coming through hard. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a sorta/kinda dry finish. Overall, a solid CDA, another strong effort from the Unchained series. Now why couldn't the standard brews hold up this well?

Blackness indeed, so much so that you can't make out the Summit logo on the Unchained Series pint glass. Sizeable muddy brown head, slips down to a tidy ring with quickness.

Aroma: grassy hops on top, with chocolate malt below. An odd combination at times, but this one makes it work.

Taste: Sweet dark malt dominates the flavor at first, with hops shining bright on top. Some piney-ness along with grassy hop character, holding ground in the forefront of the palate, with the rich, dark malty flavor hanging on right behind it.

Tasty stuff here. My complaints about the India Black Ale/ Black IPA/ CDA style are swiftly fading into history, as I find more and more of them that I like. Or maybe I'm just getting used to this new mix of grassy/piney/citric hops and dark malt? In any case, this latest Unchained entry works on every level. Great consumability, excellent balance, top-notch flavor delivery.

Another oddball shared by Chris (spycow). Served in a Cigar City snifter.

A - Tan foam quickly settles to a few wispy patches, thin collar, and tiny spots of lace. Very dark brown body with a few lighter glints here and there.

S - Plenty of sugary malts, light roast, black patent malt, and earthy and herbal hops. As it warms there's a touch of smoke and citrus as well.

T - Perhaps a tad chalky, but otherwise a solid blend of roast, black patent, and light chocolate malts. Hop flavor imparts some light citrus character, and there's surprisingly low bitterness for the style. This grew on me the more it warmed up.

Wow this is a good. A little research shows this is the same brewer that made up the very very tasty India Rye Ale last year. This beer does what many dark ales fail, or at least fail to master, the balancing the lighter upfront hoppy notes with the rich dark malts. This beer smells like fresh grapefruit and citrus fruit sitting on top of toasty cocoa barley. Yum. The flavor follows up with a bigger malt kick and hint of wheat and caramel sneaking in as the pine and orange peel build on the chocolate malt throughout the finish. This is one of the best black IPAs I've had, right up with, maybe above, Deschutes' Hop in the Dark.

From tasting notes. Had this on tap at the Bryant Lake Bowl. It pours brilliant black with a hefty cream to light tan foam collar. Tastes like an ale version of a Schwartz beer with the dark roast flavors and aromas of a stout or a porter but none of the body. Nothing burnt or harsh. Very drinkable.

A- Poured into a pint glass. Poured about an ounce in the glass and the head swelled up to the top of the glass. I gave it a few minutes to simmer down a little and continued to pour slow and carefully. Pours a dark black color with a huge light tan head with lacing all over the glass.

S- The aroma is dark malts and some hops. The aroma seems a little diluted, I was hoping for a little more in the nose.

T- The taste is dark roasted malts with a nice amount of hops in the finish. The taste is definitely more flavorful than the weaker aroma would suggest.

Flavor is strange. Hairspray is again evident, perfumey, with bitter roast malt in the background, finishing fairly bitter due to hops. There's some subtle chocolate that is overpowered by the bitterness present. Grapefruit pith emerges as it warms, and more citrus and piney hops surface.

Body is moderate, with high carbonation and a fairly astringent, harsh grainy finish. Carbonation lifts the flavor right off the palate.

Originally thought this may have been a bad bottle. Took 10 minutes to pour the full beer. But it opened up as it sat for a bit. Not one I'll revisit.

Black Ale Unchained #8 is another gender-confused beer in the black ale vein. The hops & the roast clash like Atari 2600 graphics. Hard roasted coffee pine ash malt? Yes! Someone made this work, but here, it's just unsettling. Not bad, the sum of the parts just doesn't work.

Glad I only bought a single. Not bad, not good, just kind of a mess. Mediocre.

Dark, dark clear auburn body. Very little light transmits through, but it does shine a nice auburn hue in the light. Thin light brown head leaves patchwork, spiderweb like lace about the glass walls as I drink. Awesome aroma of rye, chocolate malt, and grundgey pungent hops. (This is the closest aroma I've smelled to the original black IPA that was so incredible that I had 6 or so years ago...Alpha Klaus). The taste follows suit with the nose....very, very nice. Perfect blend of hop bitterness, hop flavor and roasted chocolate malt notes. This is a great one. Take note, Cascadian Dark Ale/Black IPA lovers.

The rich, dark color. Exotic hops from Australia and New Zealand for pronounced citrus, passion fruit and pepper character. Toasty and dark malts. Summit Black Ale takes you on quite a journey. Batch 8 in our Unchained Series from brewer Mike Lundell, this medium bodied, hoppy ale should be a hit with adventurous beer lovers.

Pours a solid brown of the darkest shade. The head appears creamy and is taupe colored and leaves curtains of sticky lacing.

Getting grassy fresh hops, like a fresh hopped beer, along with dusty cocoa and milk chocolate. A nice little combo that sounds like it fits the style profile.

Big bitterness coming from the hops. Lots of grapefruit peel and related citrus flavors. Bittersweet chocolate and coffee coming from the malt side of the beer. This is a very, very hop forward version of the style, but has a nice roasty malt balance behind it.

Very soft carbonation, about medium bodied. Has a bite to it form the hops and finishes dusty and dry. Not quite as rich and malty feeling as others in the style.

This is a bold take on the style. Loads of hops which will satisfy hopheads. I really wish there was more of a malt presence to balance it and add some sweetness. This is still a solid brew that is worth trying out.

Appearance: A dark brownish black with a tint of ruby red at the edges of the glass. Lots of rising bubbles and a big five finger light tan foamy head with very good retention. Lots of lacing around the glass.

Taste: Like the smell leads, a very good combination of bold hops and dark malts. Big taste of citrus hops upfront with notes of grapefruit, orange, and mango is followed by a solid presence of pine resin. Midway the dark elements come with some roasted malts. Hints of caramel, toffee, bitter dark chocolate, and burnt coffee. The malts add a little sweetness to help balance the bitterness. Pretty tasty.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. Somewhat bitter but still pretty creamy and smooth. Finishes fairly dry.

Overall: A very good black ale and another great beer from Summit's Unchained series. Flavors are bold and very well balanced.